Its no secret that our picturesque little island has seen a rise in gang activity as of late. Crime is running rampant from an increase in the flow of illegal drugs to rumors of human trafficking to the very obvious shootouts that endanger all our lives. With such chaos spreading, one has to ask what is being done about it? Well, we here at the Times feel it is our job to answer these tough questions!
My first stop was at the AP Police Department where I spoke to Captain Luke Morningstar, who obtained his leading rank after only a few short months on the force. On the outside, it seems like he maintains a tight ship and has contributed to a rising number of officers on the island. Of course that rising number of officers has correlated with the rising number of crimes. When asked about that, Captain Morningstar stated "We here at the APPD do our best to protect our citizens but we can't be everywhere so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears. A police force is only as strong as the community, you have a strong community you have a strong force. If people stay away from the crime then there is less crime its all a give and take."
Of course our little community relies on this force to protect us, but are they? A few anonymous citizens shared their experiences saying they had 911 calls not get dispatched and that requests for patrols in their area were denied. How can we, as a community, rely on our supposed protectors when they refuse to help? Two citizens even informed me that there aren't even any records on them at the hospital or the police station. Is this just negligence on the part of the department or is there something more to it? I asked Captain Morningstar about this and his reply was simple ""All information is important to me Kara, no case is more important then the next." Is it though? From what I've been told, there has been no further action on these 'missing' cases and some seem to be able to skate by under the radar.
Many rumors seem to be flying around the island about a group called the Immortals and their interactions with the police force. Could it be that our boys and girls in blue have been bought out by some of the very people we should fear? If this is true, can we really rely on them to come to our aid when we call for help? I tried to dig into this more and speak with other officers but each one declined a meeting or refused to comment.
Has your case gone unsolved? Was your call for help unanswered? Do you have information to validate or disprove these rumors? Drop me a line!
Contributed by Kara Dumitru
My first stop was at the AP Police Department where I spoke to Captain Luke Morningstar, who obtained his leading rank after only a few short months on the force. On the outside, it seems like he maintains a tight ship and has contributed to a rising number of officers on the island. Of course that rising number of officers has correlated with the rising number of crimes. When asked about that, Captain Morningstar stated "We here at the APPD do our best to protect our citizens but we can't be everywhere so we rely on the public to be our eyes and ears. A police force is only as strong as the community, you have a strong community you have a strong force. If people stay away from the crime then there is less crime its all a give and take."
Of course our little community relies on this force to protect us, but are they? A few anonymous citizens shared their experiences saying they had 911 calls not get dispatched and that requests for patrols in their area were denied. How can we, as a community, rely on our supposed protectors when they refuse to help? Two citizens even informed me that there aren't even any records on them at the hospital or the police station. Is this just negligence on the part of the department or is there something more to it? I asked Captain Morningstar about this and his reply was simple ""All information is important to me Kara, no case is more important then the next." Is it though? From what I've been told, there has been no further action on these 'missing' cases and some seem to be able to skate by under the radar.
Many rumors seem to be flying around the island about a group called the Immortals and their interactions with the police force. Could it be that our boys and girls in blue have been bought out by some of the very people we should fear? If this is true, can we really rely on them to come to our aid when we call for help? I tried to dig into this more and speak with other officers but each one declined a meeting or refused to comment.
Has your case gone unsolved? Was your call for help unanswered? Do you have information to validate or disprove these rumors? Drop me a line!
Contributed by Kara Dumitru
RSS Feed
